The Light of the Fireflies is one of those books that I had to restart on multiple occasions. I started it once back when I first downloaded it after a World Book Day, and then again in November 2019 and for the last time in mid-March. I just couldn’t push myself past the first few chapters.
When I began the book in March, I told myself I was going to finish it this time or I was going to DNF it and remove it from my Kindle. It was the push I needed to make it to the halfway point (around page 170) when things are finally explained and you learn why these people are living in a basement.
The story itself revolves around a 10 year old boy, and his family who live in a basement. No one ever comes in and no one ever goes out. None of the characters have names, and they are all referred to by their relationship with the boy.
It was dark and disturbing.
Key Themes: Child Abuse, Incest, Manipulation, Physical Abuse
There’s no creature more amazing than one that can make its own light.
The only redeeming characters in the story are the young boy, and his recently born nephew. Every other character is a horrible human being. They claim to commit despicable acts in the name of familial love, but I couldn’t get on board with that. I don’t want to go into too much detail because it will give away key plot points.
It’s one redeeming quality, other than being very well written, is that Paul Pen had some remarkable one-liners that made me catch my breathe. They were insightful and heartfelt.
I ended up giving it a 3-star review because I couldn’t tell if I truly liked the book or if I was just so thankful to be done with it. Once I got the ball rolling, it was a quick read. I needed to know piece after piece because of how horrified I was at what I was reading. Paul Pen is a talented writer, but I just found this set of characters to be too manipulative and the story line to be too dark for me to thoroughly enjoy it. That being said, I understand why some people loved it — if you can get over some of the horrifying things, or they don’t bother you — you’ll probably enjoy the intense twists of this novel.
Arguably Alexis 